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Writer's pictureLinda Stager

5:13 AM…..Step number 6463


I like to walk. And that’s a good thing. I like to ride my bicycle better, but my doctor says walking is better for bone density. So right now I am on a walkabout every morning.

I used to walk every morning before work. What a great way to get the day straight immediately. It was a good time to think about important things, and to plan for the day.

After I retired, I went to the garden instead. Hauling water, watering my plants, and digging in the earth was what I needed.

‘’It didn’t take me long after that to reestablish the love affair with my bicycle. The wind blowing through my helmet, the sheer exhilaration of being able to go further than ever before made it worth the occasional falls off my bike.

Then I slipped into the routine I love best. Being somewhere with my camera and watching the dawn arrive. It was best on my bike, but just as special sitting on a rock on the rim of the canyon.


But, my doc says walking is best. Pounding the pavement is what my bones need, and so for a while now I will do exactly what the doctor ordered.

It‘s been hot so I’m up and out the door before the day heats up too badly. I love it when it is just me alone in the fog….or in the rain….or under the setting moon.

It’s a special place. For my body and my mind.


You know, I shake my head in wonder because it wasn’t always that way. I used to hate to walk! Really, downright hate it. Every single step!

In fact it was so bad that I used to only walk home from work. Because that was the bargain I made with myself: “Linda, if you want to get home tonight you have to walk there”.

”I hate to walk”…”I hate to walk”…”I hate to walk”…..I would chant my way the mile home every night. One day on my way home, my feet slipped out from under me as I was walking through the fields at the old high school and I slid on my back through the muddy dirt and wet grass. I picked myself up and chanted even louder.


Eventually it got better. I got better. And the benefits have out-weighed the discomfort. One step at a time….no races, no marathons, no ribbons or medals. Just one simple step at a time…..the length of my stride one moment at a time.


I still take pictures. And I am documenting every day in a new photo essay project. So I have the best of both worlds right now.


And here is what I want to really say: I am a testament to change over time.

We all can be a testament to change over time.

Don’t get me wrong: it’s hard…..but it’s so worth it.

Even when you have a few decades of life under your belt and your knees hurt. It’s worth it!


I have a new and better chant…..I stole it from a well-known retailer. And it works for me.

Just do it.…

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